Galileo International Introduces Hotel Brand Recognition Feature

29 November 2000

ROSEMONT, Ill., Galileo International, Inc. (NYSE: GLC), a global distribution services leader for the travel industry, today announced the launch of RoomMaster(R) All Brands, the most recent enhancement to the RoomMaster hotel booking system.
All Brands is a valuable sales tool, providing hotel brands with maximum exposure of all their affiliated chains. Marriott International is the launch customer for this new one-to-one marketing and productivity tool.
All Brands makes it quick and easy for travel agents to provide the most complete selection of hotel properties that meet the customer`s needs. With a few keystrokes, All Brands gives travel agents instant access to a customer`s favorite hotel properties and reward program partners. All Brands greatly reduces the time, effort and number of searches needed to find a hotel property within the same “family” brand. For example, by entering the designated All Brand code for Marriott (EM—as in Every Marriott) in any availability or hotel index display, the travel agent automatically receives relevant information for all nine of Marriott`s lodging brands associated with EM.
“Marriott has made a considerable investment in promoting and nurturing its nine brands across the globe,” said Marriott`s Bruce Wolf, senior vice president, Distribution Sales and Marketing. “With the Marriott All Brands code `EM,` we are able to maximize our marketing efforts and foster brand loyalty to our customers around the world at the most important part of the travel transaction—the point of sale.”
In addition to its streamlined efficiency and ease-of-use for travel agents, RoomMaster All Brands greatly reduces the learning curve associated with some program enhancements for both experienced and new travel agents. The use of a single two-letter code that identifies all individual brands affiliated with a hotel company helps new agents quickly become experts at selling preferred supplier inventory, eliminating the need to memorize multiple-chain codes for a common preferred supplier.
“All Brands enables travel agents to deliver additional, value-added information in a fraction of the time,” said Galileo`s Ken Stone, vice president, Global Subscriber Marketing. “In the travel industry where loyalty programs and reward points are the standard travel currency, our travel agent partners are helping clients maximize their benefits with a few keystrokes.”
For hotel companies wanting to maximize brand recognition, All Brands is the most effective way to present all affiliated brand names at the point-of-sale. Now, hotels can capitalize on their marketing dollars by promoting a single code that represents all of their brands. This also affords instant recognition at the point-of-sale for new hotel-brand entrants within a “family.”
“With major hotel chains distributing their inventories under multiple hotel brand names, creating a cohesive `family brand` becomes a complex and expensive task,” said Galileo`s Joan Dienst, vice president, Sales and Marketing—Car, Hotel, Leisure and Advertising. “All Brands is an efficient, cost-effective tool for creating `family unity` by providing access to all members via the distinctive All Brands code.”
RoomMaster All Brands, which is available to travel agents and hotel companies worldwide at no additional cost, is available via Galileo`s computer reservation systems (CRSs) as well as through Viewpoint(TM), the first graphical user interface (GUI) booking software for the professional travel agent. In addition to Marriott International launching All Brands on Nov. 27, the following hotels have been assigned unique All Brands codes and will be implementing the marketing feature on Dec. 1: Carlson Hospitality (CW), Cendant (JC), Choice Hotels (EC) and Starwood (SW).——-